Gardener: Planting seeds for success -- and maybe failure, too

Some would call me a perfectionist. My wife would likely call me something else. All would agree I'm picky. I prefer that term. I like things to be neat and orderly, inside and out. And considering the nature of my work, a tidy outside is especially fitting.

Some would call me a perfectionist. My wife would likely call me something else. All would agree I'm picky. I prefer that term. I like things to be neat and orderly, inside and out. And considering the nature of my work, a tidy outside is especially fitting.

But now it goes to a new level. I would say it needs to be almost "picture perfect," or perhaps more aptly put, "high-definition-television-picture perfect." You see, this past summer my family and I moved back to Georgia, to a five-acre farmstead just north of Atlanta. It's perfect for the horses, goats and chickens, and my television show. For those of you who don't know, I'm executive producer and host of the national series on public television (mostly on PBS), "Growing a Greener World." It's all about eco-friendly gardening, backyard chicken-keeping, farm-to-table cooking, canning and preserving, etc. You get the picture.

For the past three years, we've traveled the country to tell others' stories. But this year, we'll add an exciting new dimension -- lots of filming from my future home garden, landscape and hobby farm. It's something I've envisioned for many years as I traveled the country to film everyone else's garden. Now it's time to get serious right here at home.

And that's where it gets a little spooky.

You see, this property has been vacant, and mostly neglected, for a long time -- at least long enough for hundreds of young tree seedlings to grow tall and spindly under the canopy of their parents and an explosion of invasive vines, some as thick as my arm, that have climbed those trees, traversed to the next and developed a root system that has expanded its dense woody web under nearly the entire forest floor.

The task of removing and eradicating this jungle: daunting.

Might this be the making of a gardening reality show? It certainly has all the elements. But I'll leave that challenge for another producer. Sticking to the original format has more than ample opportunities to showcase the reality of taming a property left unchecked for years. On that note, I will indeed play the hand dealt, to feature some of the more eco-friendly ways we all can use to restore order to an unruly area. I might as well. Since I'll be spending the better part of my free time out there anyway, let's bring the cameras along for a little action and countless teachable moments.

There is also a part of this new makeover that I am really looking forward to. Creating a large vegetable garden from scratch and worthy of national television is a challenge I'm excited to take on. Again. This will be the third such garden, having created two other picture-perfect gardens for our working set when I hosted "Fresh from the Garden" on the DIY Network. My producer at the time told me "failure was not an option." Gee, thanks for that bit of encouragement.

Page 2 of 2 - This time, though, I'm the producer and the host, and this is my garden. Although I have every intention of creating a beautiful -- and highly productive -- vegetable and herb garden, I'm OK with some failures along the way, plus the fact that this organic garden will likely include some imperfections. I believe that in life, and especially in gardening, the pursuit of perfection is a waste of time, and that failure is one of the best teaching tools you can have. I've had many such "learning opportunities" in my decades of gardening, and I truly believe it's made me a much more astute gardener and a better person in the process.

So on this cold, wet January morning, as I stare from my office window upon the vacant space of my future garden, I dream about all the wonderful experiences that will come from it and that I will share with you, my viewers and readers.

And bring on the failures, too. Although I don't wish for even a single one, we'll take them on together, and together we'll all become better gardeners. I'll keep you posted.

Joe Lamp'l, host of "Growing a Greener World" on PBS, is a master gardener and author. For more information visit www.joegardener.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, shns.com.